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Biodiversity
Biodiversity (biological diversity) means the variety of all life forms, their
genes and the ecosystems they make up.
It is the variety of all living forms in a system including genetic diversity,
species diversity, ecosystem diversity, biological communities and ecological
processes.
Biodiversity on a farm may include:
- plants
- fish
- amphibians
- reptiles
- birds
- mammals
- microorganisms
- habitats.
Biodiversity is essential to the maintenance of life on Earth. High levels of biodiversity can assist to:
- provide clean air and water and fertile soil
- control pests, diseases and weeds
- protect against erosion.
It also provides food and medicine resources and tourism, social and intrinsic values. Loss of biodiversity can result in extinction of plant and animal species.
Australia has the worst record of mammal extinction in the world.
The major causes of biodiversity loss are:
- land clearing
- altered water flows
- salinity
- climate change
- introduced species
- logging and firewood cutting
- changed fire regimes
- grazing pressures
- decline in water quality.
Management of biodiversity
Biodiversity on farms can be improved by:
- maintaining a variety of areas of native vegetation
- actively controlling weeds and feral animals
- rehabilitating and revegetating degraded sites
- providing wildlife corridors
- conserving habitats such as understorey vegetation, leaf litter, dead standing trees, rocky areas, waterways and wetlands.
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